Panini Prizm Baseball Tries to Score Value Points

One of the biggest debates currently in the hobby is about card manufacturers and products which do not have league licensing. There are a group of collectors who vow they will never purchase a new release unless the league also has given its blessing. Meanwhile, other collectors will say that as long as the player selection is good along with a reasonable price point, the lack of logos and trademarks on cards isn’t a big deal. While personally I understand both arguments, at the end of the day, just like most collector decisions, this all comes down to an individual choice.

Panini has cut back on the quantity of packs per box, but increased the number of parallels and tried to place more on card autographs in the product compared to last year’s issue.

A box which promises two autographs and six prizms per box (and other inserts) sold so well, my LCS had to restock with his price hovering at around $60. Leading on-line retailers are now between $55-60 per box.

2014 Panini Prizm Baseball has 12 packs with six cards per pack. The silver bordered cards feature a large color photo covering with the player’s name and city at the bottom (remember, Panini can’t use team nicknames because of the lack of an MLB license). The backs have biographical information, career stats as well as some information. I wish like in some other sports, the word prizm was added to the back of those cards to make them easier to identify.

Open a box and you might find a powdery substance on them, which Panini says is “a harmless organic press powder” used to prevent issues in the printing process.

Here’s a look at the yield from our box:

Base Cards: 58 cards of which eight were duplicates. There is a bit of disappointment in receiving duplicates out of a box with a smallish quantity of cards.

Short Print: David Ortiz

Prizm Parallels: Ryan Braun, Felix Hernandez, Chase Utley

Purple Prizm Parallel (#d to 99): Jeff Bagwell

Blue Prizm Parallel (#d to 75): Derek Holland

Gold Prizm Parallel (#d to 10): Tim Lincecum

Diamond Dominance: Bryce Harper

Fearless: Yu Darvish

Golden Gloves: Adam Wainwright

Next Era: Clint Frazier

Rookie Reign: Taijuan Walker

USA Baseball Alumni: Paul Konerko

Autographed Card: Brian Flynn

Autograph Mojo Prizm Card (#d to 75): Josh Donaldson.

Would these be better with logos? Sure, but collectors who buy this product probably understand what they’re getting. Prizm has a lot of fans, too, who like the brand and its style more than they hate the lack of logos.

Long-term value is hard to determine with non-licensed baseball cards but my LCS owner says collectors often say they feel better if they have received value from a box, regardless of license. When you receive two autographs plus more than 10 other hits for $60 or a tad less, many collectors are very happy indeed.

A lot of this product has been opened. Click here to see nearly 8,000 listings on eBay.

Rich Klein has spent almost his entire life collecting baseball cards having begun at the tender age of seven. He has spent more than three decades in the organized hobby including editing the first 12 editions of the Beckett Almanac of Baseball Card and Collectibles. He lives in Plano, TX along with his wife Dena and their two dogs. You can reach him at [email protected].